I woke up startled from my nightmare.

Had all that really happened?

Was I dead?

My hand was bandaged, and I couldn't move my right leg either. As I glanced outside the door near me, I could see the coast. The waves washed up weeds and shells on the dirty shore dotted with fishing boats. The house I was in had a thatched roof. Even the walls were made out of mud, and there were cracks and holes in some places.

"Abbu, chaval laaya hu!"

(Abbu, I've brought rice!)

I heard a boy's voice, and he froze at the door when he saw me awake. His eyes widened, "Abbu woh uth gaya!"

(Abbu, he's awake!)

"Kya?" A man rushed into the room through the other entrance. He had a long beard and was wearing a cap. The kind that muslims wore. The man knelt beside me, "Kuch yaad hai? Musalmaan nahi lagte..." he mumbled.

(What?)

(Do you remember anything? You don't look like a muslim...)

It suddenly struck me that my wallet had been in my kurta pocket. I found it beside my pillow and immediately went through it. All the money was gone.

"Paisa kaha hai?"

(Where's my money?)

The man gave me an unsavory look before standing up, "Ilaaj mei sab kharch ho gaya. Rehmaan jaake khaana bana do jaldi." The man instructed his son.

(Spent everything on getting you treated. Rehmaan, go make lunch.)

I took the damp photograph from my wallet carefully. It had torn a bit, but at least Sanjana's face was visible. I hated myself in that moment that I hadn't taken any more pictures with her, or of the kids. Fuck, they must be worried sick.

"Biwi hai?" The man asked, peering at the picture with me.

(Is that your wife?)

I hummed, "Mujhe kuch yaad nahi hai... Yeh konsi jagah hai? Aur aapka naam...?"

(I don't remember anything... Where am I? And your name?)

"Do din pehle raat ko machli pakadne nikal raha tha... Tab paani mein dubta hua dekha. Yusuf Siddiqi hai naam. Aur aap... police se bhaag rahe ho? Chori ki hai? Khun ki hai?"

(Two days back, I had gone fishing at night when I found you drowning in the sea. Yusuf Siddiqi is my name. And are you on the run from the police? Are you a thief? Did you murder someone?)

"Nahi," I glared, "Mai apne gaon ka Thakur hu... Bhairav Chaudhary. Sheher mei khaarkhaane dekhne aaya tha... Par..."

(No. I'm the Thakur of my village... Bhairav Chaudhary. I came to inspect my factory in the city... But...)

"Par kya?" He frowned.

(But what?)

"Kuch aur yaad nahi aa raha," I gritted my teeth and pressed my forehead. It was burning so much. No matter how hard I thought, I couldn't figure out what had happened.

(I can't remember anything.)

Yusuf sighed, "Shukr karo ki zinda ho. Yaha ke vaidh ne bhi yahi kaha tha... Musalmano ka gao hai. Agar unhe pata chala ki aap hindu ho, toh shayad jaan se maar denge. Jis din hindustan do tukde ho gaye, yaha par naphret phelne laga. Isliye yaha musalman bankar rehna hoga. Aaj se tumhara naam Abdul Majid hai. Sheher mei machli bik rahe the, par kuch gundo ne maar maarke samundar mei phek diya. Theek hai?"

(Be grateful that you're alive. Even the doctor said the same... This is a muslim village. And if they find out that you're a hindu, maybe they'll kill you. From the day hindustan split into two, there has been hate spreading here. So you'll have to live here like a muslim. Your name is Abdul Majid from today. You were a merchant in the city, but a few thugs beat you up and threw you in the water. Okay?)

I stared at him quietly, "Aap meri madad kyu kar rahe hai?"

(Why are you helping me?)

"Kyunki hum sab insaan hai. Usse bada kya jawab chahiye?" He muttered irritably.

(Because we're all human. What more do you want to hear?)

I leaned back against the wall and watched the waves crash against the shore. A while later, Rehman came into the room with a plate of food. He had a bright smile on his face as he placed it in front of me.

"Aapke liye saheb. Maine apne haatho se banayi hai," he told me.

(This is for you saheb. I made it with my hands.)

Yusuf came into the room holding two more plates for him and his son. He sat beside me and began eating. The boy looked about eleven.

"Aap dono akele rehte hai?" I asked.

(Do you both live alone?)

"Iski Ammi kuch saal pehle guzar gayi," he replied, without looking up from his food, "Bimar thi. Par ilaaj karne ke liye hamare paas paise nahi the... Ab hum akele rehte hai."

(His mother passed away a few years back. She was sick. But we didn't have the money to cure her... Now we live alone.)

I nodded quietly. They were poor fisherman. I was lucky enough to be saved by them.

"Bache hai?" He asked suddenly, looking up this time.

(Do you have kids?)

"Haan... Bahut chote hai..." I smiled to myself, "Bas ek saal... Judwa bache."

(Yes... They're really young... Just a year old. They're twins.)

Yusuf nearly scoffed, "Biwi hamesha chahti thi... Judwa bache. Naam kya hai unka?"

(My wife always wanted twins... What are their names?)

"Raghav aur Janaki."

(Raghav and Janaki.)

I missed them dearly.

"Kuch hafte zaroor lagenge ghaav bharne mein... Tab tak yahi rehna padega. Aap chahte hai toh parivar ko chithi likh sakte hai."

(It will definitely take a few weeks for you to heal entirely... Until then you'll have to stay here. If you want, you can write to your family.)

I nodded, "Shukriya."

(Thank you.)

The moment I ate a morsel of rice with old pickle, I missed Sanjana's cooking like anything. The food tasted awful. It amazed me that Yusuf and his son could eat it without any complaints.

Ah... Sanjana...

She would have fed me by hand if she saw the state I was in.

Maybe I had been taking her for granted...

As I thought more about her, the events from two days back slowly returned to me. My eyes widened as I realised what had truly happened.

I had to fetch some documents from my office, and I talked with Naman as usual. And before I could get in my Jeep to go home, I asked one of the servants there to change the tyres at the workshop, as I suspected a puncture while driving. Meanwhile, I had gone inside to get something.

There was a loud explosion. Right outside the factory.

By the time I got there, I saw that my Jeep had gone up in flames. It was already nighttime, and I saw a few men in the distance, armed with swords and knives. The moment they spotted me, they chased me back into the factory.

The building was quite near the coast, so I remembered fighting off two men, nearly decapitating one of them, but I was ambushed from all sides. They broke my arm with an iron rod, and by then, I knocked over some crates and tried to escape them.

Naman saw it all, and he rushed to call the police. A few men chased him down as well. I wondered whether he escaped safely. As I ran through the back door, a few of the criminals caught up and struck my leg with iron rods as well. The last thing I remembered was escaping their fatal blows and jumping into the water.

Fuck, now that I thought about it, a few of those faces were familiar.

When Paramesh and I had gone to Gulzar's residence, I distinctly remember seeing those same faces protecting the pig.

"Bhairav?" Yusuf pulled me out of my trance, "Kya hua? Kuch yaad aaya?"

(Bhairav? What happened? Do you remember anything?)

I was hesitant to tell him everything. He was a muslim. What if he were on Gulzar's side?

"Aap... Gulzar Sultan ko jaante ho?"

(Do you... Know Gulzar Sultan?)

Even Rehman stopped eating at my question. He stared between me and his father with wide eyes, "Abbu...!"

"Unse kya kaam hai?" Yusuf switched to a colder tone.

(What business do you have with him?)

"Gulzar Sultan ke aadmiyon ne mera peecha kiya tha," I mumbled.

(It was his men who followed me.)

There was shock on Yusuf's face, "Aur tum jaan se bach gaye? Jinhone bhi unse takraya hai, sabhi jail ya jannat gaye hai. Meri baat maaniye, Thakur Ji... Woh bahut khatarnak aadmi hai. Aapko jaan se maar dalega. Mere dosto ka wahi haal hua tha..."

(And you escaped alive? Whoever has messed with him have either gone to hail or heaven. Listen to me, Thakur Ji... He's a very dangerous man... He'll kill you mercilessly. Few of my friends met with the same fate.)

"Kya?" I frowned.

(What?)

Yusuf sighed, "Humara chota sa machuara gaon hai... Sultan Ji ke aadmi yaha se hamesha machli khareedne aate hai, par paise bahut kam dete hai... Mere do theen dosto ne awaaz uthayi, un logo ne sabko goli maar diya. Aur police toh kuch karenge nahi... Jin logon ke paas paise hai, unhe police se kya darna?"

(Ours is a small fishing village... Sultan Ji's men often come here to buy fish. But they pay very little... Two of my friends tried opposing them, and Gulzar's men shot them. The police won't do anything either... Rich folk are never scared of the police, right?)

His last comment felt like a blow to my gut. I had bribed quite a lot of police officers as well for my gain. Ever since I was young, I've never had to worry about money or poverty. Being born into a noble family was quite an advantage.

"Woh aapke peecha kyu kar rahe hai?" Yusuf probed.

(Why were they after you?)

This time I told him everything, starting from how Sanjana had provoked one of his men, to the countless times we had butt horns. A few even died because of everything. Gulzar just couldn't stand that I was going to come into power in less than a month, so he thought to eliminate me.

Did he think it was going to be that easy?

I was going to drag him through hell once I recovered.

"Aapki parivar khatre mei ho sakti hai..." Yusuf mumbled, "Kuch hafton ke baad aapko unhe lekar kahi door chale jaana chahiye-"

(Your family could be in danger... You should take them and escape far away in a few weeks.)

"Mai usse darkar thodi bhaagne wala hu," I gritted my teeth, "Apne haatho se maarunga us kamine ko."

(I'm not going to run from him. I'll teach that bastard a lesson myself.)

I swore to make him suffer, even if it was the last thing I did.

A/N- The prev chapter from Sanjanas POV happened 6 months after Bhairavs funeral while this one is a glimpse of his pov like few days after the funeral. The following chapters will resume from the prev chapters' timeline, or I'll indirectly mention a timeskip in the dialogue.

Also, shoutout to @ananya607. Happyyyy belated bdayyyy! My bad, I couldn't wish you yesterday, I got time to read the comments only this evening.

Are you guys happy now that Bhairav is back :)